Directional drilling has proven useful in facilitating production of formation fluid, e.g., hydrocarbon-based fluid, from a variety of reservoirs. In application, a vertical wellbore is drilled, and directional drilling is employed to create one or more deviated or lateral wellbores extending outwardly from the vertical wellbore. Often, a whipstock is employed to facilitate the drilling of lateral wellbores in a method referred to as sidetracking.
Whipstocks are designed with a face, or ramp surface, oriented to guide the drill bit in a lateral direction into the sidewall of the wellbore to establish a lateral or deviated wellbore, which branches from the existing vertical wellbore. The whipstock is positioned at a desired depth in the wellbore and oriented to facilitate directional drilling, i.e., sidetracking, of the lateral wellbore along the desired drill path. In many applications, sidetracking requires at least two trips downhole. In the initial trip, the whipstock is delivered downhole, oriented and set at the desired wellbore location. The second trip is used to deliver a bottomhole assembly with a conventional drill bit to drill the deviated secondary, lateral borehole. However, each trip downhole increases both the time and cost associated with the drilling operation.